Former Crest standout inducted into national hall of fame

Thursday

A former Crest High standout was honored last week not only for his prowess on the wrestling mat, but his continued efforts to grow and improve the sport.

Alan Swell, who was a four-sport athlete at Crest from 1976-79, was inducted last weekend into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Chapel Hill.

Sewell was part of the first wrestling team in Crest history, having been recruited by coach Coleman Hunt. Despite having no previous wrestling experience, he took to the sport quickly, earning a spot as team captain all three years he competed.

Sewell jokes that his upbringing led to his success.

“Growing up, I was the youngest of my brothers. You get knocked around a little bit, learn to survive,” he said. “Wrestling gave me a chance to go at it with someone more my size.”

His performance on the mat was good enough to get him into college. He competed for two years at Chowan Junior College before going on to UNC Wilmington. While competing at Chowan he served as backup to an eventual national championship winner, and was part of a top 10 team in the country overall.

His biggest claim to fame came sometime after his college wrestling days.

In 1984, he took over the wrestling program at Emsley A. Laney, converting a team on a five-year, 55-match losing streak and turning them into one of the state's most premier programs, winning eight conference titles, four district titles, three regionals and a state title. He was named North Carolina Coach of the Year in 1992

“A lot of people know that school is Michael Jordan’s alma mater. What they don’t know is we won a state title in wrestling well before they got one in basketball,” said Sewell.

Over the course of his career, Sewell coached four state champions, 25 top placing wrestlers and saw 10 wrestlers go on to compete at the Division I or II level.

Following his retirement Sewell continued to be involved in wrestling as a volunteer, helping with day camps and mentorship programs. From 2005-2010 he was the chairman for the National Wrestling Coaches Association, and he’s served as state tournament staff for more than 15 years.

Despite all of his contributions to the sport, Sewell said he was surprised to hear about his induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

“It was all pretty incredible. The ceremony was great,” he said. “The neatest thing for me was to have my friends and my family there. They haven’t all seen or heard all of the things I got to do.”

Dustin George can be reached at 704-669-3337. Find him on Twitter @DustinatTheStar.

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